GTX 690 Review

[DarkFox]

this is so when they release a 685 that falls in the middle for performance everyone is going to think it makes sense @ $750. My guess anyway.

also, 2 x 2 gb? SLi never stacked ram before, whats the deal?

Additional Comment:

also just saw this:

"Taken altogether, this means the GTX 690 should be able to reach at least 91% of the GTX 680 SLI’s performance and probably closer to 95% depending on where GPU boost tops out."

so why if there basing ther info off what NVIDIA said would you spend 100% the cost of 2 for 90% the performance

[Urbanfox]

Originally Posted by DarkFox

this is so when they release a 685 that falls in the middle for performance everyone is going to think it makes sense @ $750. My guess anyway.

also, 2 x 2 gb? SLi never stacked ram before, whats the deal?

Additional Comment:

also just saw this:

"Taken altogether, this means the GTX 690 should be able to reach at least 91% of the GTX 680 SLI’s performance and probably closer to 95% depending on where GPU boost tops out."

so why if there basing ther info off what NVIDIA said would you spend 100% the cost of 2 for 90% the performance

Not sure what you mean about 2x2GB (each core has 2, but they mirror each other), but considering availability on the 680 is a joke and that the 690 should be much, much worse, I'm not holding my breath for anything else for a while.

[hostage67]

Originally Posted by Urbanfox

Not sure what you mean about 2x2GB (each core has 2, but they mirror each other), but considering availability on the 680 is a joke and that the 690 should be much, much worse, I'm not holding my breath for anything else for a while.

2x2 indicates that it's 2gb's per GPU, so it's the same thing as two seperate cards.

There are some improvements to the 690, it is supposed to generate less noise, it uses an all metal case, it uses vapor chamber heatsinks, etc...

All of these things in the end however are minor. The less noise is most likely due to the fact that the 690 uses only one fan instead of two, the other improvements are there specifically to address the increased heat due to having both cards combined into one.

The only real advantages are the better asthetics (ie, it looks better), it uses fewer slots (1 slot for the 690 vs two slots for SLI 680's).

Price vs performance, the 690 is slightly lower value as it uses slightly slower clock speeds. The performance difference is negligible, but at the same cost, why get the lower performer.

If they had increased the memory on the card, or given it some other real advantage it might have been worthwhile, but as it stands there is really no significant reason to get the 690 instead of the 680's in SLI unless you simply don't have the available PCIe slots.

[DarkFox]

well thats what i mean about the memory. It said 2x2 gb so it is "the same as two cards" but with nvidia we historicaly do not see the system as actualy using that as if there is 4gb of VRAM available.

So that is what I am getting at, are they intentionaly missleading people by saying 2x2 GB when the system is only going to treat it as 2gb.

[Urbanfox]

Originally Posted by hostage67

2x2 indicates that it's 2gb's per GPU, so it's the same thing as two seperate cards.

That's what I just said I was asking what his interpretation was. Also, ALL dual GPU cards are like that.

Additional Comment:

Originally Posted by DarkFox

well thats what i mean about the memory. It said 2x2 gb so it is "the same as two cards" but with nvidia we historicaly do not see the system as actualy using that as if there is 4gb of VRAM available.

So that is what I am getting at, are they intentionaly missleading people by saying 2x2 GB when the system is only going to treat it as 2gb.

To be quick about it, no.

All dual GPU cards show total on-board memory. The onus I guess is on the user to split that in half to figure out available VRAM.

Example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102927

SAPPHIRE 100310SR Radeon HD 6990 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

[hostage67]

Originally Posted by DarkFox

well thats what i mean about the memory. It said 2x2 gb so it is "the same as two cards" but with nvidia we historicaly do not see the system as actualy using that as if there is 4gb of VRAM available.

So that is what I am getting at, are they intentionaly missleading people by saying 2x2 GB when the system is only going to treat it as 2gb.

it is to be accurate, not to mislead people. As Urbanfox mentioned, this is pretty much the standard, each card uses it's own ram, so if they marketed it as a 2gb GPU then people would think it had a 1x1 ram. But if they state it is a 2x2, it lets people know that each card only uses 2gb's. If they marketed it as a 4gb card, people would be in an uproar for it being misleading since only 2gb's is used per card. So marketing as 2x2 is just the most efficient way to get the necessary information to the consumers without misleading them.

[DarkFox]

see we know what there talking about but to the lay person that is missleading. If I went up to someone that knew very little and said this has 2x2gb of ram the logical conclusion would be oh cool, it has 4gb of ram. Not understanding that SLi does not add them together but instead is writing the same information to both at the same time.

It may be the industry standard but if they simplified it and said this is a 2gb card, unless you overanalyzed and dug into how it worked and tried to out fox it you would just think its a 2gb card the way every other card on the market is. So long as you have 2gb usable to you, what do most users care about how that is achieved internaly?

[hostage67]

The short answer is that it effects their sales.

2x2 is accurate, if a person doesn't know enough about it to understand what that means then the company can't really be held liable.

2gb in a dual GPU card is going to be thought of as a 1x1 by people who understand what's going on. While it may be viewed accurately by a person that doesn't understand how the card works, they still lose steam with the more technical crowd unless they get into a long explanation which again will just be confusing for non-technical people.

[TSXmike]

uggg.... where are they!

[Urbanfox]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5805/n...are-ultra-fast

$1,000.00 for 2GB of available VRAM... No TY.

The card would be worlds more attractive with 2x4GB + $100-150 off.

[johnerz]

Originally Posted by Urbanfox

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5805/n...are-ultra-fast

$1,000.00 for 2GB of available VRAM... No TY.

The card would be worlds more attractive with 2x4GB + $100-150 off.

You might be right, but as there is a long queue for these the prices will not drop any time soon and never this year to the $800 mark

[Urbanfox]

I don't see them getting below $950 at the least. 680 availability is non-existent and these will be even harder to get.

Feels like a big paper launch still.

[TSXmike]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130781

Not in stock... but $1200¡!¡! Holy ****